this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2023
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No most ppl can't, obviously. What we can stop doing is proposing no alternative when we tell ppl to stop doing something...you know. Like you just did.
There is no viable alternative to a car when it is 20 below and you have to drive 30 min to get to work.
You might notice I said we should “move away from cars” which obviously includes building alternatives not just abandoning cars.
If you’re responding in good faith and genuinely wanting to learn about this topic, you might try looking into how other countries (I presume you’re American or Canadian?) manage with fewer cars. For example, other cold countries like Finland and northern Japan walk, bike, and use public transportation all year round, even in -20 weather. Check out this video. Totally possible. Obviously, the US and Canada had big cities before the invention of cars, so I’m not sure why you think there are no possible alternatives to cars.
Finland and northern Japan are microscopic compared to Canada (or the USA). The reason it's feasible there does not make it feasible here.
Most of the people in both Finland and Japan live in cities, while most North Americans live in cities. Moving away from cars in rural areas may not be easy, but there is no reason why it would not be possible in the cities. The things that are needed are: denser cities (less tight zoning laws) and more alternatives to driving, like bike lanes or trams. These things are achievable by policy change. Also, the USA has around five times as much population density across the country as Finland, so while it may be big, it is not too big for decent alternatives to driving